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San Onofre nuclear plant settlement deemed fair and appropriate

A recent announcement from Southern California Edison (SCE) has confirmed that the San Onofre nuclear power plant settlement is fair and was negotiated with public interest in mind.

According to the announcement, the settlement, which was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), was properly negotiated.

The Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) have demanded that CPUC enforce penalties on SCE to punish the group for communication between two leaders of SCE and CPUC: Michael Peevey, who was the CPUC president at the time, and Stephen Pickett, who was the executive of SCE at the time. The communication gave SCE an unfair advantage in the settlement negotiations.

TURN says that the settlement is based on independently developed positions and beliefs that litigating outcomes would be worse for the company’s customers. TURN maintains that it has been fair to customers. TURN also states that it knew about the Peevey-Pickett communications in April 2014 but continued to negotiate the settlement anyway.

ORA and TURN both participated in the settlement and did not call for the CPUC to reopen the settlement negotiations. ORA asks that the settlement be made invalid to avoid any worse outcomes.